Snap Counts: 60 Buckeyes Play in Ohio State’s 31-7 Win over Northwestern at Wrigley Field

The Buckeyes kept their starting offense in the game until their final possession and played their defensive starters into the fourth quarter, unable to pull away from Northwestern quite as quickly as expected at Wrigley Field. Ohio State still took a 31-7 lead by the end of the third quarter that held for the game’s final score.

Twenty-five different players got in the game on offense and 26 players saw action on defense while nine other Buckeyes played on special teams only. In a game that could have been Ohio State’s final opportunity of the season to take its starters out of the game early, all but 14 of the players who made the trip to Chicago got on the field for at least one play.

Among the notable snap totals for Ohio State against Northwestern was Arvell Reese playing a career-high 34 snaps as OSU’s third linebacker, recording a career-high seven tackles in the process.

Our full breakdown of how many snaps each Buckeye played on offense, defense and special teams against Northwestern, using data from Pro Football Focus’ premium statistics, can be found below.

Quarterbacks

Will Howard: 55
Devin Brown: 3

Even though Ohio State took a 24-point lead into the fourth quarter after scoring on five consecutive drives, Howard remained in the game for two more possessions for a total of eight drives. He completed 15 of 24 passing attempts for 247 yards and two touchdowns.

Brown replaced Howard for Ohio State’s final drive but did not attempt any passes as the Buckeyes ran the ball three straight times to end the game.

Running Backs

TreVeyon Henderson: 32
Quinshon Judkins: 24
James Peoples: 4

Judkins made his third consecutive start against Northwestern but Henderson ended up playing eight more snaps as they rotated throughout the game per usual. Although Henderson was on the field more, Judkins got more touches, running the ball 15 times for 76 yards and two touchdowns and catching one pass for eight yards while Henderson ran the ball 11 times for 74 yards and caught two passes for 19 yards.

Peoples played one snap on Ohio State’s second-to-last drive and all three snaps on the game’s final series. He ran the ball on all four of his plays in the game, gaining 26 combined yards.

Wide Receivers

Emeka Egbuka: 47
Jeremiah Smith: 46
Carnell Tate: 45
Brandon Inniss: 10
Bryson Rodgers: 6
David Adolph: Special teams only
Jayden Ballard: Special teams only

Egbuka, Smith and Tate played the vast majority of wide receiver snaps against Northwestern as Inniss was the only backup receiver to rotate in until Ohio State’s final two drives of the game, when Rodgers saw some playing time.

Tate had a standout performance in his return to his hometown of Chicago, scoring two touchdowns on four total catches for 52 yards, while Smith had his third 100-yard game of his freshman season as he had exactly 100 yards on four receptions.

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Tight Ends

Gee Scott Jr.: 29
Bennett Christian: 23
Jelani Thurman: 18
Patrick Gurd: 5
Max LeBlanc: 1

Ohio State used three tight ends in regular rotation for the second week in a row. Scott started the game and was on the field for exactly half of Ohio State’s plays; he did not return to action after taking a knee to the body while run blocking late in the third quarter, though he appeared to be available to play if needed. Christian played his second-highest snap count of the season while Thurman was on the field for exactly 18 offensive plays for a second straight game.

Gurd was on the field for two goal-line plays as the fullback in the T-formation – the first of which resulted in a Judkins touchdown run – and was also on the field for all three plays of Ohio State’s final drive. LeBlanc entered the game for Ohio State’s final play in his third game appearance of the season.

Offensive Linemen

Donovan Jackson: 55
Carson Hinzman: 55
Seth McLaughlin: 55
Tegra Tshabola: 55
Josh Fryar: 55
George Fitzpatrick: 3
Luke Montgomery: 3
Joshua Padilla: 3
Austin Siereveld: 3
Ian Moore: 3

Ohio State used the same starting offensive line for a third game in a row with Jackson at left tackle and Hinzman at left guard alongside McLaughlin, Tshabola and Fryar, who have made up the right side of Ohio State’s starting offensive line all year long.

All five starters played every snap until the Buckeyes’ final possession of the game when they were replaced by the second line of Fitzpatrick, Montgomery, Padilla, Siereveld and Moore.

Defensive Ends

Jack Sawyer: 37
JT Tuimoloau: 37
Caden Curry: 29
Kenyatta Jackson Jr.: 29
Joshua Mickens: 4

Sawyer and Tuimoloau both played the same exact number of snaps for the second week in a row as Ohio State’s starting defensive ends were on the field for 37 of Ohio State’s 67 defensive plays. Sawyer made the most of his snaps with his most productive game of the season, recording a career-high seven tackles, a forced fumble and seven quarterback pressures.

Curry and Jackson were also on the field for the same number of snaps as each of them was in the game for 29 plays, the second-highest snap count of the season for both. Mickens, the only other defensive end who made the trip to Northwestern with Mitchell Melton sidelined by an undisclosed injury, played all four of his snaps on Northwestern’s final possession.

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Defensive Tackles

Tyleik Williams: 40
Ty Hamilton: 36
Kayden McDonald: 21
Eddrick Houston: 16
Tywone Malone Jr.: 8
Will Smith Jr.: 7
Hero Kanu: 5

Williams returned to the starting lineup after missing the Purdue game due to injury and played the most snaps of any Ohio State defensive tackle against Northwestern. He and Hamilton each recorded one tackle as they led the Buckeyes’ efforts to hold the Wildcats to just 50 net rushing yards on 30 attempts.

McDonald and Houston, the first defensive tackles off the bench, were the only other DTs to play double-digit snaps against Northwestern. Kanu, Malone and Smith – who made the trip to Chicago over Jason Moore, who had been in the rotation over Smith earlier in the season – played all of their snaps in the second half after Ohio State had already built a 24-point lead.

Linebackers

Sonny Styles: 49
Cody Simon: 47
Arvell Reese: 34
C.J. Hicks: 20
Payton Pierce: Special teams only
Gabe Powers: Special teams only
Joey Velazquez: Special teams only

Although he didn’t start the game, Reese played the highest snap count of his Ohio State career to date and recorded a career-high seven tackles. He saw regular playing time against Northwestern in the 4-3 package in addition to occasionally playing in place of Simon at Mike linebacker with the base defense.

Styles played the most snaps among linebackers – as he has in every game this season – and had his best game yet at his new position as he recorded six tackles with two pass breakups and two sacks.

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Hicks mixed in for occasional work with the first-team defense at Will linebacker in addition to playing the entirety of Northwestern’s final possession, on which he got in on two sacks (though the stat sheet only credited him with a half-sack) as a blitzer from the outside.

Cornerbacks

Denzel Burke: 46
Davison Igbinosun: 42
Jordan Hancock: 37
Jermaine Mathews Jr.: 36
Lorenzo Styles Jr.: 20
Bryce West: 11

Ohio State continued to rotate Mathews in with Burke and Igbinosun as it has since the second half of the season began and Mathews played upwards of 35 snaps for the third time in four games as a result. Burke and Igbinosun still played the most snaps among cornerbacks against Northwestern, but Mathews also played the entirety of Northwestern’s final drive, which spanned 13 plays.

As he has for the past few weeks, Hancock played primarily at nickel but also occasionally moved to safety with Styles taking his place in the slot. West made his second straight game appearance on defense as he replaced Burke two plays into Northwestern’s final possession and was on the field at outside cornerback opposite Mathews for the Buckeyes’ last 11 defensive plays.

Safeties

Caleb Downs: 50
Lathan Ransom: 46
Malik Hartford: 16
Jaylen McClain: 14
Brenten “Inky” Jones: Special teams only

Downs played more snaps than any other Ohio State defender for a second straight game as he was on the field for all of the Buckeyes’ first 50 defensive plays before Hartford took his place at free safety for Northwestern’s final two possessions. Ransom was on the field for all but of those plays, aside from when Hancock took his place at strong safety; Hancock also played safety in place of Ransom on Northwestern’s second-to-last offensive series before McClain took over at SS for the Wildcats’ final drive.

Field Goals/Extra Points

Jayden Fielding (kicker): 5
Joe McGuire (punter): 5
John Ferlmann (long snapper): 5
Bennett Christian: 5
George Fitzpatrick: 5
Josh Fryar: 5
Luke Montgomery: 5
Joshua Padilla: 5
Austin Siereveld: 5
Jelani Thurman: 5
Tegra Tshabola: 5

Ohio State made no changes to its placekicking unit against Northwestern. Fielding made his only field goal attempt of the game (28 yards) and all four of his extra points.

Kickoffs

Jayden Fielding (kicker): 6
Denzel Burke: 6
C.J. Hicks: 6
Jaylen McClain: 6
Payton Pierce: 6
Lorenzo Styles Jr.: 6
Bryce West: 6
Jermaine Mathews Jr.: 5
Gabe Powers: 5
Patrick Gurd: 4
Arvell Reese: 4
Caden Curry: 2
Joey Velazquez: 2
Jordan Hancock: 1
Brandon Inniss: 1

Fourteen different players saw action on the kickoff coverage unit alongside Fielding against Northwestern. The Buckeyes did not allow any kickoff returns.

Kickoff Returns

TreVeyon Henderson (returner): 2
David Adolph: 2
Bennett Christian: 2
Patrick Gurd: 2
Brandon Inniss: 2
Jaylen McClain: 2
Gabe Powers: 2
Bryson Rodgers: 2
Lorenzo Styles Jr.: 2
Joey Velazquez: 2
Payton Pierce: 1
Jelani Thurman: 1

Ohio State used Henderson as its kickoff returner for the second week in a row. He returned both of Northwestern’s kickoffs but didn‘t get past the 20-yard line on either one of them.

Punts

Joe McGuire (punter): 2
John Ferlmann (long snapper): 2
Caden Curry: 2
Caleb Downs: 2
C.J. Hicks: 2
Lathan Ransom: 2
Gee Scott Jr.: 2
Lorenzo Styles Jr.: 2
Sonny Styles: 2
Jayden Ballard: 1
Patrick Gurd: 1
Jermaine Mathews Jr.: 1
Cody Simon: 1

McGuire downed both of his punts inside the 20-yard line and the Buckeyes did not allow a return on either one of them.

Punt Blocks/Returns

David Adolph: 4
Brenten “Inky” Jones: 4
Jaylen McClain: 4
Arvell Reese: 4
Lorenzo Styles Jr.: 4
Carnell Tate: 4
Caden Curry: 3
Caleb Downs (returner): 3
C.J. Hicks: 3
Gabe Powers: 3
Denzel Burke: 2
Jermaine Mathews Jr.: 2
Bennett Christian: 1
Brandon Inniss (returner): 1
Lathan Ransom: 1
Joey Velazquez: 1

Ohio State blocked a punt for the second game in a row as Adolph batted the ball out of bounds at the 1-yard line after a botched snap by Northwestern.

This was a wild play

In the end, it's a blocked punt and No. 2 @OhioStateFB takes over at the 1-yard line.#B1GFootball on Big Ten Network pic.twitter.com/E4x0YBYfnT

— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) November 16, 2024

Downs lined up deep as Ohio State’s returner for Northwestern’s first three punts while Inniss replaced Downs for the Wildcats’ final punt. Downs had the only return between the two, gaining three yards after fielding a long rolling punt that traveled 56 yards.

Extra Point Block

Caden Curry: 1
Caleb Downs: 1
Ty Hamilton: 1
Davison Igbinosun: 1
Kenyatta Jackson Jr.: 1
Jermaine Mathews Jr.: 1
Lathan Ransom: 1
Arvell Reese: 1
Cody Simon: 1
Sonny Styles: 1
Tyleik Williams: 1

Ohio State’s extra point block team consisted of the defensive players who were on the field for Northwestern’s only touchdown of the game.